The invention deals with formulations and methods useful for treating neoplasms, particularly neoplasms of the respiratory tract (e.g. lung cancer and cancers of the head and neck), by pulmonary administration of highly toxic or vesicating anticancer drugs. Additionally, several new formulations and methods for treating neoplasms using antineoplastic drugs that are nonvesicants are also disclosed.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Lung cancer in particular, is among the top 3 most prevalent cancers and has a very poor survival rate (about 13% five-year survival rate). Despite the availability of many cancer drugs it has been difficult and, in the case of some cancer types, almost impossible to improve cure rates or survival. There are many reasons for this lack of success but one reason is the inability to deliver adequate amounts of the drugs to the tumor without causing debilitating and life-threatening toxicities in the patient. Indeed, most chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat cancer are highly toxic to both normal and tumor tissues.
It is customary in the treatment of cancer to administer the drugs by the intravenous route, which exposes the entire body to the drug. Doses are selected that destroy tumor cells, but these doses also destroy normal cells. As a result, the patient usually experiences severe toxic side effects. For example, severe myelosuppression may result which compromises the ability of the patient to resist infection and allows spread of the tumor. There are other life-threatening effects such as hepatotoxicity, renal toxicity, pulmonary toxicity, cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and gastrointestinal toxicity caused by anticancer drugs. The anticancer drugs also cause other effects such as alopecia, stomatitis, and cystitis that may not be life threatening, but are serious enough to affect a patient""s quality of life. Moreover, it is important to note that these toxicities are not associated to the same extent with all anticancer drugs but are all due to systemic delivery of the drug.
Although myelosuppression is commonly associated with most anticancer drugs, because of differences in the mechanisms by which the various anticancer drugs act or in the ways they are distributed in the body, metabolized and excreted from the body, each drug presents a somewhat different toxicity profile, both quantitatively and qualitatively. For example, anthracyclines such as doxorubicin, epirubicin and idarubicin are known to cause severe cardiotoxicity. Doxorubicin, additionally, is known to cause severe progressive necrosis of tissues when extravasated. Cisplatin therapy is known to cause renal toxicity; vincristine causes neurotoxicity, bleomycin and mitomycin cause pulmonary toxicity, cyclophosphamide causes cystitis; and 5-fluorouracil causes cerebral disjunction (see Cancer Chemotherapy: Principles and Practice, B A Shabner and J. M. Collings, eds. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1990).
The differences in mechanisms of action and pharmacokinetic properties determine, in part, the efficacy of the various anticancer drugs against different tumor types, which exhibit various biological behaviors.
Some attempts have been made to deliver anticancer drugs directly to the tumor or to the region of the tumor to minimize exposure of normal tissues to the drug. This regional therapy, for example has been used to treat liver cancer by delivering drugs directly into the hepatic artery so that the full dose goes to the liver while reducing the amount that goes to the rest of the body. For the treatment of urinary bladder cancer, anticancer drugs are instilled directly into the bladder through the urethra, allowed to remain in contact with the tumor for a period of time and then voided. Other examples of regional therapy include the delivery of anticancer drugs into the peritoneal cavity to treat cancer that has developed in or metastasized to this location. Other methods of targeting anticancer drugs involve the attachment of the drugs to antibodies that seek out and deliver the drug directly to the cancer cells.
In 1968 Shevchenko, I. T., (Neoplasma 15, 4, 1968) pp.419-426 reported on the treatment of advanced bronchial cancer using a combination of inhalation of chemotherapeutic agents, radiotherapy, and oxygen inhalation. The reported chemotherapeutic agents were benzotaph, thiophosphamid, cyclophosphan and endoxan that were applied as an aerosol by means of an inhaler. For 58 treated patients the combination of three treatments showed tumor disappearance in 8 cases while in 6 the size of the tumor diminished considerably. The study did not include a control group.
In 1970, Sugawa, I. (Ochanoizu Med. J.; Vol. 18; No.3; (1970), pp.103-114, reported on tests using mitomycin-C in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer. One of four patients treated reportedly showed some improvement. Inhalation of mitomycin-C also appeared to reduce tumor growth in IV-inoculated tumors in rabbits; results appeared to be more inconclusive in rats. Tests were conducted to determine the toxic effects to the respiratory tract following intrabronchial infusions of several drugs. The drugs were given to healthy animals and included: thiotepa (rats), Toyomycin (chromomycin A3) (rats,), endoxan (cyclophosphamide) (rats and rabbits), 5-fluorourcil (rats and rabbits), mitomycin-C (rats, rabbits, and dogs). The results of these tests showed that: 5-FU and cyclophosphamide resulted in only mild inflammation; thiotepa produced bronchial obstruction; chromomycin A3 and mitomycin-C produced the most severe results. Toxic effects of mitomycin-C and chromomycin A3 were studied in rabbits and dogs.
In 1983, Tatsumura et al (Jap. J. Cancer Cln., Vol. 29, pp. 765-770) reported that the anticancer drug, fluorouracil (5-FU, MW=130) was effective for the treatment of lung cancer in a small group of human patients when administered directly to the lung by aerosolization. They referred to this as nebulization chemotherapy. It was also noted by Tatsamura et al (1993) (Br. J. Cancer, Vol. 68(6): pp.1146-1149) that the 5-FU did not cause toxicity to the lung. This finding was not totally unexpected because 5-FU has a very low molecular weight and does not bind tightly to proteins. Therefore, it passes through the lung rapidly lessening the opportunity to cause local toxicity. Moreover 5-FU is considered to be one of the least toxic anticancer drugs when applied directly to tissue. Indeed, 5-FU is used as a topical drug for the treatment of actinic keratosis for which it is applied liberally, twice daily, to lesions on the face. This therapy may continue for up to four weeks. Also, because 5-FU is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, there is little concern about the amount of drug that may be inadvertently swallowed and gain access to the blood stream from the gut. It is well known that a large percentage of aerosolized drug intended for the lung is swallowed.
Another report includes the use of xcex2-cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C, cytarabine, MW=243) administered via intratracheal delivery to the respiratory system of rats. Liposome encapsulated and free Ara-C were instilled intratracheally to the rats as a bolus. The encapsulated Ara-C persisted for a long time in the lung while the free Ara-C which is not highly protein bound was rapidly cleared from the lung. The free Ara-C rapidly diffused across the lung mucosa and entered the systemic circulation. The paper suggests that liposome encapsulation of drugs may be a way to produce local pharmacologic effect within the lung without producing adverse side effects in other tissues. However, bolus administration results in multifocal concentrated pockets of drug. See the articles by H. N. MacCullough et al, JNCI, Vol. 63, No. 3, September, pp.727-731 (1979) and R. L. Juliano et al, J. Ph. and Exp. Ther., Vol. 214, No.2, pp.381-387 (1980).
An additional report includes the use of cisplatin (MW=300) for inhalation chemotherapy in mice that had been implanted with FM3A cells (murine mammary tumor cells) in the air passages. The cisplatin exposed inhalation group were reported to have statistically smaller lung tumor sizes and survived longer than the untreated control group. See A. Kinoshita, xe2x80x9cInvestigation of Cisplatin Inhalation Chemotherapy Effects on Mice after Air Passage Implantation of FM3A Cellsxe2x80x9d, J. Jap. Soc. Cancer Ther. 28(4): pp. 705-715 (1993).
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,219 to Rosenberg, the patent disclosure suggests the use of doxorubicin, 5-FU, vinblastine sulfate, or methotrexate in combination with pulmonary infused liquid fluorocarbons. The patient is suggested to be positioned so that the tumor affected area is at a gravitational low point so that liquid perfluorocarbon having relatively low vapor pressure will pool selectively around the area with the drug then perfused in the pool of liquid perfluorocarbon. The present invention avoids the problems with positioning of the patient and further does not require the liquid fluorocarbons used by Rosenberg.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,686 to Desai et al there are disclosed compositions where a pharmaceutically active agent is enclosed within a polymeric shell for administration to a patient. One of the routes of administration listed as possible for the compositions of the invention is inhalational. Among the listed pharmaceutically active agents potentially useful in the invention are anticancer agents such as paclitaxel and doxorubicin. No tests using the inhalational rout of administration appear to have been made.
Although several antineoplastic drugs have been administered to animals and to humans, for treatment of tumors in the lungs and respiratory system, the differences in the mechanism of action, and toxicity profiles among the broad classes of anticancer drugs, and the heretofore known characterizations have made it impossible to predict whether a particular anticancer drug will be efficacious or toxic based upon previous inhalation results with a different drug of a different type. Further, previous reports used very imprecise means of delivering drugs and were not consistent in delivering measured doses of drugs in an evenly distributed manner to the entire respiratory tract. The present invention provides means for predicting and selecting drugs including the highly toxic chemotherapeutic compounds, amenable for inhalation therapy of neoplastic disease and methods for actually distributing specific measured doses to pre-selected regions of the respiratory tract.
It has now been demonstrated by the applicants that anticancer cytotoxic drugs of multiple classes such as anthracyclines (doxorubicin), antimicrotubule agents such as the vinca alkaloids (vincristine), and taxanes such as paclitaxel can be given directly by inhalation without causing severe toxicity to the lung or other body organs. This finding is surprising, because it is well known among those who administer cytotoxins such as doxorubicin to patients, that this drug causes severe ulceration of the skin and underlying tissues if allowed to be delivered outside of a vein. After extravasation the drug continues to affect the tissues to such an extent that amputation of limbs in which the extravasation has occurred has been required. So severe is this toxicity that the prescribing information for doxorubicin (and some other similar vesicating drugs) in the Physicians Desk Reference contains a xe2x80x9cBox Warningxe2x80x9d regarding this danger. The present invention, therefore, provides an effective way to administer chemotherapeutic agents, including highly toxic agents such as doxorubicin, while minimizing the major side effects described above.
Broadly, one embodiment of the invention includes a formulation for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of a vesicant and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, preferably the vesicant does not exhibit substantial pulmonary toxicity. In one aspect of the embodiment the vesicant is typically a moderate vesicant such as paclitaxel or carboplatin. A description of such a moderate vesicant would include a non-encapsulated anticancer drug, wherein when 0.2 ml of the drug is injected intradermally to rats, at the clinical concentration for parenteral use in humans: (a) a lesion results that is at least 20 mm2 in area fourteen days after the intradermal injection; and (b) at least 50% of the tested rats have this size of lesion. Other aspects of this broad embodiment typically include a vesicant that is a severe vesicant such as doxorubicin, vincristine, and vinorelbine. The neoplasm to be treated is typically a pulmonary neoplasm, a neoplasm of the head and neck, or other systemic neoplasm. The drug may be in the form of a liquid, a powder, a liquid aerosol, or a powdered aerosol. Typically the patient is a mammal such as a domestic animal or a human. In other aspects the embodiment includes formulations of drugs such as etoposide and a carrier such as DMA. Typically the severe vesicant is an anthracycline such as epirubicin, daunorubicin, methoxymorpholinodoxorubicin, cyanomorpholinyl doxorubicin, doxorubicin, or idarubicin; or a vinca alkaloid such as vincristine, vinorelbine, vinorelbine, vindesine, or vinblastine. In other formulations the drug is typically mechlorethamine, mithramycin, dactinomycin, bisantrene, or amsacrine. Typically the formulation may include a taxane such as paclitaxel, its derivatives and the like. Typical animal and human doses are provided in the tables and text below.
A further broad embodiment of the invention includes a formulation for treating a patient having a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of a non-encapsulated antineoplastic drug having a molecular weight above 350, that does not exhibit substantial pulmonary toxicity; and an effective amount of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The neoplasm treated with the formulation is typically a pulmonary neoplasm, a neoplasm of the head and neck, or a systemic neoplasm. The drug used in the formulation is in the form of a liquid, a powder, a liquid aerosol, or a powdered aerosol. Typically the drug has a protein binding affinity of 25% or 50% or more. Further the drug can typically have a higher molecular weights such as above 400, 450, or 500 daltons. Typical animal and human doses are provided in the tables and text below.
In a yet further embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a formulation for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of a taxane in an effective amount of vehicle comprising polyethyleneglycol (PEG) and an alcohol. Typically the formulation will also contain an acid, where the acid present in amount effective to stabilize the taxane. Typically the alcohol is ethanol, and the acid is an inorganic acid such as HCl, or an organic acid such as citric acid and the like. In some typical formulations the taxane is paclitaxel and the formulation contains about 8% to 40% polyethyleneglycol, about 90% to 60% alcohol, and about 0.01% to 2% acid. Typical animal and human doses are provided in the table and text below.
Another embodiment provides for formulations for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of a drug selected from the group consisting of carmustine, dacarbazine, melphalan, mercaptopurine, mitoxantrone, esorubicin, teniposide, aclacinomycin, plicamycin, streptozocin, and menogaril; and a safe and effective amount of a pharmaceutically effective carrier, wherein the drugs do not exhibit substantial pulmonary toxicity.
A yet further embodiment provides for a formulation for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of a drug selected from the group consisting of estramustine phosphate, geldanamycin, bryostatin, suramin, carboxyamido-triazoles; onconase, and SU101 and its active metabolite SU20; and a safe and effective amount of a pharmaceutically effective carrier, wherein the drugs do not exhibit substantial pulmonary toxicity.
A still further embodiment provides for a formulation for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of etoposide and an effective amount of a DMA carrier. Typical animal and human doses are provided in the tables and text below.
Another embodiment includes a formulation for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation comprising: a safe and effective amount of a microsuspension of 9-aminocamptothecin in an aqueous carrier. Typical anima and human doses are provided in the tables and text below.
A further broad embodiment of the invention includes a formulation for treating a patient having a neoplasm comprising: administering to the patient by inhalation, (1) an effective amount of a highly toxic antineoplastic drug; and (2) an effective amount of a chemoprotectant, wherein the chemoprotectant reduces or eliminates toxic effects in the patient that are a result of administering the highly toxic antineoplastic drug. Typically the chemoprotectant reduces or eliminates systemic toxicity in the patient, and/or reduces or eliminates respiratory tract toxicity in the patient. Typically the formulation includes a chemoprotectant such as dexrazoxane (ICRF-187), mesna (ORG-2766), ethiofos (WR2721), or a mixture thereof. The chemoprotectant may be administered before, after, or during the administration of the antineoplastic drug. The antineoplastic drug used with the chemoprotectant may be a nonvesicant, moderate vesicant, or a severe vesicant. Typical among the drugs with which the chemoprotectant is useful are bleomycin, doxorubicin, and mitomycin-C.
The invention also typically includes a method for treating a patient having a neoplasm comprising: administering to the patient by inhalation, (1) an effective amount of a highly toxic antineoplastic drug; and (2) an effective amount of a chemoprotectant, wherein the chemoprotectant reduces or eliminates toxic effects in the patient that are a result of administering the highly toxic antineoplastic drug. Typically the chemoprotectant reduces or eliminates systemic toxicity in the patient and/or reduces or eliminates respiratory tract toxicity in the patient. Chemoprotectants can typically be dexrazoxane (ICRF-187), mesna (ORG-2766), ethiofos (WR2721), or a mixture thereof. The chemoprotectant may be administered before, after, or during the administration of the antineoplastic drug. Typically the antineoplastic drug is a nonvesicant, a moderate vesicant, or a severe vesicant. Typically the antineoplastic drug comprises bleomycin, doxorubicin, or mitomycin-C.
An additional embodiment of the invention includes a method for treating a patient having a neoplasm comprising: administering a safe and effective amount of a non-encapsulated antineoplastic drug to the patient by inhalation, the drug selected from the group consisting of antineoplastic drugs wherein when 0.2 ml of the drug is injected intradermally to rats, at the clinical concentration for IV use in humans: (a) at least one lesion per rat results which is greater than 20 mm2 in area fourteen days after the intradermal injection; and (b) at least 50% of the tested rats have these lesions. In some typical embodiments when the drug is doxorubicin or vinblastine sulfate, the drug is inhaled in the absence of perfluorocarbon. Typical diseases treated include a neoplasm such as a pulmonary neoplasm, a neoplasm of the head and neck, or other systemic neoplasm. The drug may typically be inhaled as inhaled as a liquid aerosol or as a powdered aerosol. Mammal animals and humans are typical patients treated with the method. The drug may typically be selected from the group consisting of doxorubicin, daunorubicin, methoxymorpholino-doxorubicin, epirubicin, cyanomorpholinyl doxorubicin, and idarubicin. When the drug is a vinca alkaloid it is typically selected from the group consisting of vincristine, vinorelbine, vindesine, and vinblastine. Other useful drugs typically include the alkylating agents mechlorethamine, mithramycin and dactinomycin. Still additional useful drugs typically include bisantrene and amsacrine. The drug can typically be a taxane such as doxitaxel or paclitaxel.
Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for treating a patient having a neoplasm comprising: administering an effective amount of a highly toxic non-encapsulated antineoplastic drug to a patient by inhalation, wherein the molecular weight of the drug is above 350, and the drug has no substantial pulmonary toxicity. Typically the neoplasm is a pulmonary neoplasm, a neoplasm of the head and neck, or a systemic neoplasm. The drug may be inhaled as a liquid aerosol or as a powdered aerosol. Typically the drug has a protein binding affinity of 25%, 50% or more. In one aspect the drug is typically selected from the group comprising doxorubicin, epirubicin, daunorubicin, methoxymorpholinodoxorubicin, cyanomorpholinyl doxorubicin, and idarubicin. If the drug is doxorubicin or vinca alkaloid it may typically be administered without the presence of a perfluorocarbon. Typically the vinca alkaloid is selected from the group consisting of vincristine, vinorelbine, vindesine, and vinblastine. Typical alkylating agent type drugs include mechlorethamine, mithramycin, dactinomycin. Other topoisomerase II inhibitors include bisantrene or amsacrine.
An additional embodiment includes a method for treating a patient for a neoplasm by the steps of administering an effective amount of an antineoplastic drug to the patient by inhalation; and administering a pharmaceutically effective amount of the same and/or different antineoplastic drug to the patient parenterally. The patient may be treated with one or more adjunct therapies including radiotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, chemoprotective drug therapy.
A further embodiment includes a method for treating a patient for a neoplasm including the steps of administering an effective amount of an antineoplastic drug to the patient by inhalation; and administering an effective amount of the same and/or different antineoplastic drug to the patient by isolated organ perfusion. The patient may be treated by one or more adjunct therapies including radiotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, and chemoprotective drug therapy.
An further embodiment includes a method for treating a patient for a pulmonary neoplasm by the steps of (1) selecting one or more antineoplastic drugs efficacious in treating the neoplasm and having a residence time in the pulmonary mucosa sufficient to be efficacious in the treatment of the pulmonary neoplasm; and (2) administering the drug(s) to the patient by inhalation in a non-encapsulated form. Typically when 0.2 ml of at least one of the drugs is injected intradermally to rats, at the clinical concentration for parenteral use in humans: a lesion results which is greater than 20 mm2 in area fourteen days after the intradermal injection; and B. at least 50% of the tested rats have these lesions. Typically the molecular weight of at least one of the selected drugs is above 350.
A still further embodiment includes a method of use including the steps of administering one or more non-encapsulated highly toxic anticancer drugs to a mammal by inhalation, wherein at least one of the drugs comprises a severe vesicant.
Another embodiment is an apparatus for treating a patient for a neoplasm by inhalation that is a combination of a nebulizer and a formulation for treating a neoplasm, the formulation including (1) a non-encapsulated anticancer drug, and (2) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier; wherein when 0.2 ml of the formulation is injected intradermally to rats, at the clinical concentration for parenteral use in humans: (a) a lesion results which is greater than about 20 mm2 in area fourteen days after the intradermal injection; and (b) at least 50% of the tested rats have these lesions. A further embodiment includes a formulation which when injected results in a lesion which is greater than about 10 mm2 in area 30 days after the intradermal injection; and at least about 50% of the tested rats have these longer lasting lesions. Typically the formulation includes an anthracycline. Anthracyclines may be selected from the group consisting of epirubicin, daunorubicin, methoxymorpholinodoxorubicin, cyanomorpholinyl doxorubicin, doxorubicin, and idarubicin. The formulation also typically and contain a vinca alkaloid. Vinca alkaloids may be selected from the group consisting of vincristine, vinorelbine, vinorelbine, vindesine, and vinblastine. Alternately, the formulation may contain vesicant selected from the group consisting of mechlorethamine, mithramycin, and dactinomycin; or bisantrene or amsacrine. Typically the formulation can also contain a taxane which is typically a paclitaxel or doxytaxel.
Another embodiment of the invention includes an inhalation mask for administering aerosols to an patient comprising: means for enclosing the mouth and nose of the patient, having an open end and a closed end, the open end adapted for placing over the mouth and nose of the patient; upper and lower holes in the closed end adapted for insertion of a nose outlet tube and a mouth inhalation tube; the nose outlet tube attached to the upper hole, adapted to accept exhaled breath from the nose of the patient; a one way valve in the nose tube adapted to allow exhalation but not inhalation; the mouth inhalation tube having an outer and an inner end, partially inserted through the lower hole, the inner end continuing to end at the rear of the patients mouth, the inhalation tube end cut at an angle so that the lower portion extends further into the patients mouth than the upper portion and adapted to fit the curvature of the rear of the patients mouth; and a y-adapter attached to the outer end of the mouth inhalation tube. The mask typically will have a moderate vesicant or a severe vesicant present in the inhalation tube.